Duggan to unveil $250M bond proposal to remove blight in Detroit neighborhoods

Mayor Mike Duggan is unveiling a plan Monday to ask voters in March to approve a $250 million bond issue to fund blight removal in the city’s neighborhoods.

The ballot initiative first needs city council approval.

Since Duggan took office in 2014, the city has demolished more than 18,000 blighted homes, primarily using more than $250 million in federal Hardest Hit Funds. But those funds are running out.

In May, Duggan said he planned to ask voters to approve a $200 million bond issue to demolish 4,000 houses annually over the next four years. At the time, he said the bond issue would not require a tax increase and would be paid back through existing city revenue.

Duggan plans to divulge details of the ballot initiative at a 1 p.m. news conference.

The mayor’s demolition program has come under intense scrutiny and prompted several investigations over soaring demolition costs and environmental hazards.

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